"This seems like a nice place to relax," you said.
The scenery in front of you was at the outside of the school. After eating your meal with some classmates, you wanted to get some fresh air for a little bit while there was still enough time during the lunch break. You found a bench on the way outside where it was shaded by a tree next to it. Since no was else was seated on it, you took it as a chance to occupy.
There was a large field in a not so far distance from across where the bench was located. At the vicinity you could spot two people chasing one another; you presumed they were playing soccer ball by themselves because of the small sphere they were trying to take from one another's reach.
You didn't pay any mind to them when your attention was caught by a four-legged animal walking towards you. "Oh, hello there, kitty. Are you lost?"
The feline was cautious upon hearing you talk, but nevertheless continued to move along. It stopped by your feet and meowed at you.
"Do you have an owner? You seem like you're lost, little guy," you checked his neck only to find there was no collar nor any other sign of ownership accessories attached to it. You figured it must be a stray cat that found its way inside the school's gate. "I don't have any food I can give to you. Well, I've already it actually..."
You crouched your back so your hand could get closer to the cat and then you slowly held your palm to it. "Let's just be friends, then?"
Meanwhile, the two people at the field were still dueling each other.
"Come right at me!" A purple-haired male shouted. He was standing in front of a goal post as he guard it behind his back to prevent the ball into entering the net. His knees were bent and arms spread to his sides, preparing for the other individual to take his next action.
Fang eyed him suspiciously when the latter made his advancements.
"Oh yeah?" His companion, a brown-haired male, replied. He was facing the other with a confidence. "I don't think you can catch the power of my whirling wind!"
With the ball under his foot, he raised his leg and kicked it will all the energy that his limb had. The round object flew into a curved path and towards the post. Fang leaped to his right and tried to stop the ball from going into the net, but instead, the object slammed against the steel frame
and went to another course.
"Shoot! It went too far."
While your attention was still directed at the cat, you didn't notice of the incoming ball flying towards you with an encredible speed. However and also fortunately, the speed alone was not a threat as the distance between you and the young soccer player were wide enough for the ball's gravity to fall to the ground before it could hit you. Instead you felt a light impact on your foot.
Looking down, the same ball that was used by the two boys had rolled off into your direction after the boy's kick misdirected it. You picked it up without any intention of knowing what to do with it.
The cat, surprised by the foreign object, sprinted away from you. You watched it run off somewhere until it was out of your sight. "Aw, he's gone."
"Excuse me, can you kick that ball back to us?!" One of the boys shouted.
You looked to the blue-capped male waving at you. "Oh, um, sure!" Standing up, you placed the ball back to the ground and kicked it.
"Ack!" Angin made a grunt when the ball's forecful kick hit him right into his face where the forehead received the most painful part. The unsteady balance made him stumble back and forth, but soon fall to the back when his feet could not support him any longer.
"Dude, are you okay?!" His friend came to his aid.
"Ugh... " Angin laid helplessly on the ground. He had no will to move an inch of his body part. The inside of his head was ringing loudly as if he was a moving tower bell. Black taints started to cover the corner of his vision while at the same time his eyesight was becoming blurry. For the last seconds, the last thing he saw was a young woman running to them before he then passed out.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" you apologized. You made your way to the boys as fast as you feet could carry you. Kneeling beside the purple-haired male, you checked the other one's condition. "Is he alright?" You asked his friend.
Hm, he looks familiar...? Wait, no. That's not the important issue right now! Crap. D... Did I kill him or something? Panick began to surge you.
Fang noticed your distress and waved his hand as a way to dismiss the worrying thought building up in your mind. "Don't worry. I think he just went unconscious," he reassured.
"But... "
"I'll take him to the infirmary," Fang placed Angin's right arm over his shoulders with his hand to lock him in place while using his other free to secure the other male's waist. The extra weight added on Fang gave him a bit difficulty to maintain a steady posture, but he was able to stand up in the end.
You stood up as well. "Can I come along and help too?"
"Oh, do you know him?"
You shook your head, looking down as you did so. "No, I don't. But I'm worried since he got knocked out because of me."
Fang nodded. "Sure. Why don't you take the left side?"
"Alright." You went to Angin's unoccupied side and carried his left arm over your shoulders. With the boy's body depending on you for his safety, you made sure to not stumble in your footsteps and kept your stance within the level of Fang's.
"Not gonna lie, that was pretty funny," he said.
"What is?"
"Of all the space that the ball could have went to, it ended up hitting his head instead."
"Ha... Ha, that really was unexpected. I didn't think I had it within me," you looked at Angin's limping figure. You couldn't see his front appearance due to his head hanging below his neck. That kick must have been strong enough put him down like that when you didn't even think that was possible. "Do you think he'll be really alright?"
"It's fine. Knowing him, he'll probably just laugh it off when he wakes up. Accidents like these happen sometimes."
"Well, if you say so."
The infirmary was at the ground floor which made it easier for you and Fang to drag Angin there without taking a flight upstairs. Opening the door, you swayed your head and checked if there was any person inside the room. "There's no one around," you said.
"Doesn't matter. Let's put him on one of the beds." The two of you let go of the Angin's arms and carefully placed him on the white mattress, his weight putting an ease to your pressed muscles when you no longer carried him. On one of the corners of the room was a cabinet contained with medical supplies. You rummaged through the objects inside the shelf. "I wonder where the bandages are... "
Just like you, Fang was also looking for any appropriate material to bind the other male's wound. His hand touched a metallic box and when he brought it up to his view, he saw a label indicating what was inside. "Here it is!" He exclaimed when he finally grabbed hold of a small kit.
"Ah, thanks for finding it! Um...?"
"Oh, right!" He snapped his fingers, remembering that he hadn't even introduced himself and his friend yet. "My name's Fang. That doofus over there is Angin." He pointed at the collapsed boy.
"My name's (Y/N)."
"Okay, (Y/N). Let's patch him up, shall we?" You and Fang went back to Angin. You brushed away the strands of his hair off of his forehead to reveal the red lines on the flesh's surface.
"Hm, the scrape isn't that bad, but he's still out cold." Fang applied two small patches of fabrics on the wounded forehead and secured them with a tape. "He'll wake up sooner or later, I think, so let's leave him like this for a while."
"Is it okay if I stay a bit longer?"
"Sure? If you want to, that is. I have to get to my next class. But will you be okay staying here on your own?" Fang was already at the entry, his hand holding the knob of the door.
"No worries. This was my fault anyway. The least I can do is stay by his side and look out for him."
"I see. I want to thank you for your help. I didn't want to drag his butt here all by myself," Fang laughed. He then bowed down his head. "I really have to go now. I'll see ya later, (Y/N)!"
And so when the third companion exited the room, you were left alone with the other under your care. Your curiosity earlier still remained standing when you examined the boy again. "He's probably related to Tanah and Api. He even has the same hat as them, but with a different color," you noted, noticing that the front cap of his hat was turned to his right. At the opposite side of it was a symbol of a whirling wind.
"He won't be waking up any sooner, right...? Is that what he said? " you tried to recall. "Oh well. I guess I should rest too while I'm still here." You grabbed a chair and settled it nearby the bed where the boy laid. Sitting down, your eyelids began to weary from the lack of sleep you had last night. "Just ten minutes and then I'll wake up," you yawned.
It didn't take long before you joined the boy in the absence of wake.
...
A blinding light entered through the small openings of a person's skin's fold. Upon waking up, his eyes were still blurry that he had to raise his fists to face and rubbed his eyelids to see properly. Brown eyes stared at the new area he was placed at, questioning how he endex up here.
"... Where am I?" The male arose from the bed, scanning the white walls around him. He recognized this place was the school's infirmary when he became fully aware of his surroundings. "How did I end up here?" Angin was certain he didn't come into this room nor were there any recollections of him going inside the building. This means that somebody must have brought him here without his notice.
A sharp pain suddenly shot through the anterior part of his body. "Ouch! What the," he raised a hand on his forehead. Instead of feeling the touch of his flesh, his fingertips felt a soft cotton applied on a minor wound where the sting was. "Why is there a bandage on my head...?"
He halted when his eyes landed on a figure he wasn't familiar of. At the side of his bed was a girl sitting on a chair, though it was clear that she wasn't awake by the look on her face. You were leaning against the furniture's backrest with your arms propped above its arm supports as you slept soundly like an angel.
"Did she take me here?" Angin asked no-one. He shifted towards you to take a closer look. His eyebrows furrowed in curiosity when your distinguished features became recognizable and brought him to stare at you longer. "Huh, she looks familiar. Wait, didn't she...?"
Oh right.
Memories flooded his mind in an instant and a flashback appeared before him. If Angin remembered correctly, he and Fang were playing soccer ball together at the field. The former kicked it too hard that the ball was sent flying to the direction where you were at, and you kicked it back to him under his request. Before he blacked out, the last thing he saw during that scene was of you running towards him with a worried expression.
Did you help Fang drag him all the way here? If so—
"I should thank her, but," Angin looked at you with an ease smile. "I don't want to disturb her sleep."
Angin moved his legs over the bed's edges so he was now fully sitting right in front of you. He grabbed the blanket that was still on top of him and hovered it above your sleeping figure. "It's bit chilly today, so this will help you warm up." He draped the blanket over your shoulders that it covered down your entire body starting from the neck, the remains of the fabric laying softly on the floor
"Ngn... " The male was mildy surprised when you budged, thinking that he might have interfered with your slumber. You were still deep asleep that his mere action was not enough to put an end to it. "Just ten more minutes... I promise I'll go to school," you murmured.
Angin couldn't help to contain his amusement that he let out a chuckle in response to your mumble. "We're already at school," he whispered. His reply wasn't meant for you to wake you up, but your sense of hearing was quick to perceive his low spoken words.
Your eyelids opened instantly and your upper body moved straightly upright from your leaning position, followed by the blanket hanging on your shoulders falling into your lap. "Huh?! Since when—ah." Your sentence paused when seeing a brown-haired who had awoken from his unconsciousness not too long ago. "Oh, you're up."
Angin nodded, "Yeah, I am."
Your muscles loosened as you sighed in relief, with you sitting back down to the chair. "Thank goodness. I thought you'd stay unconscious for a few hours or so since I did hit you pretty hard. Ah, now that I think about it," you pulled out your phone to check the time, "I wonder how long I was asleep."
"Have you been staying with me since you got here?"
It was your next to nod your head. "Yeah, I'm really sorry for what happened. That kick was caused by my recklessness," your cheeks were flushed red in shame. It was only your second day of school and yet you've already put someone into a state of unconsciousness. You didn't think your luck could get any worse than before. "Do you feel any pain on your head?" You asked, pointing at the bandage.
"You don't have to apologize. It was just an accident, right?" Angin placed his hand on his masked wound once again. The slight pressure from his fingers sent a deeper burn into his flesh. "And as for my head, it hurts but it's not really that painful. I can handle this itsy-bitsy sting."
"If you need anything, I'll get it for you. You should go back to laying down."
Angin waved his hands, "No, no, it's fine. I think I'm okay enough to get back to class even though we're pretty late now, aren't we? By the way, I still don't your name."
"My name's (Y/N). Fang told me yours already."
"Thanks for taking me here, (Y/N). I appreciate it." Angin pushed himself out of the bed.
You stood up to offer the male your assistance. "Here, let me help you."
What Angin forgot to realize was that the blanket was still attached to you, which also meant that the lower part stayed on the floor as it had previously been. Upon standing up, his foot got caught on by the sheets. The male's eyes widened in shock when he felt the undersurface of his foot slip from the fabric's smoothness. In impulse, he did not have the chance to think properly and his instinct led him to grab the nearest subject he could try to get support from.
"Woah—!" You were startled when his grip pulled you close to him towards the ground.
The two of you braced for impact as the thought of stopping yourselves from falling was no longer an option. It was only a short amount of time but the few seconds were enough for Angin to think of another idea to at least protect you from the impact. He swiftly wrapped his arms around your small frame and slipped his hands at the back of your head before you could make contact to the ground.
Once fallen, the male's fingers were compressed tight between your head and the hard floor. His forearms that were crossed firmly against the tiles and his upper back strength prevented him from hitting his forehead directly to you. "Oww..." Angin opened his eyes only to find a pair (e/c) orbs that stared back at them with a mixture of confusion and startlement.
"Oh, God! (Y/N), are you alright?!" He asked.
A groan escaped from your mouth. "Y... Yeah, I think so." Your eyelids fluttered, your mind a little hazy from the blood rushing down the side of your body. Your senses quickly came into focus when you found yourself being entrapped by a figure. He was so close to you that there was barely any space left to move. "But um, Angin?"
"Yeah?"
You placed your palms on his chest in preposition for him to budge away from you. There was an unsettling look you were expressing and a light reddish hue showing on your face, though Angin couldn't see the latter due to his body that casted shadow on your blush. "Could you, um, get off of me?"
There was a silence that soon followed, which it then engulfed the entire room.
Red blotches appeared on Angin's face after realizing the position you were both in. Your body was underneath someone whose size was bigger than yours. The male was sprawled on top of you with his legs trapping you on either side while his hands were still pressed against the two forces. His face was a few inches away from touching yours that you could feel each other's warm breaths passing by.
From the third point of view, it looked like nothing innocent could be explained.
If another entity came in by without knowing the context of your position, he or she would think that they might have accidentally entered a private activity they weren't supposed to see.
The blush appearing on Angin's face became twice brighter when he found that he was still caging you beneath him, with you waiting for him to take action. "S... Sorry! I didn't mean to do that. I guess you're not the only one who's reckless around here, ha... ha." There was a nervous tone in his laugh as he tried to fade away the awkwardness in that shared silence.
Angin slowly lifted out his hands free and then pushed them against the floor to pull himself up. The distance between you and him increased until his shadow no longer loomed over you, and instead it was replaced by the room's bright ceiling filling into your vision.
Once the male now had the advantage of moving his body parts without any restriction, he knelt by your side to give you his aid. "I'll help you get up." Angin carefully grabbed you by the shoulders and lifted you from the ground with ease while holding you tightly to ensure that the slippery slope he caused did not befall again.
"T... Thanks. That was really dangerous," you replied. You rubbed the back of your head where Angin protected it. You didn't feel any sharp pain from the impact, but there was numbness buzzing uncomfortably on the same spot. "Are you fine with getting up, though? You just fell on me, so maybe you should...?"
Angin was quick to catch on with your words and promptly stopped you from finishing them. "Ah, you don't have to keep worrying. I can walk properly now. That mishap was only because of the blanket and I was a fool that I didn't raise it up from the surface."
You were skeptical of his reply. "Well, if you're going, I'll accompany you. You might fall down again."
"Thank you, but you don't have to trouble yourself for me, (Y/N)." Angin began to move, still feeling his bones wavering like noodles on his lower limbs, though he tried not to show his unsteadiness.
"You sure? You're still— Wha... I told you so!" You scolded at the boy who had fallen twice. Helping him get up, you forcefully get him to lay back on the bed much to his protest.
In th end, Angin agreed with your decision and decided to take a little more rest while he was still recovering. You kept your words to Fang by never leaving the male's side and accompanying him throughout the rest of the afternoon classes.
Your hunch was right when you questioned him if he was related to Tanah and Api, and he answered that he was the third eldest. After that, the two of you talked for hours, changing topics from favorite foods to interesting facts and to a deep discussion about space. It was also entertaining to hear him talk about his hobbies like he was a child who gotten a large gift on Christmas. Little by little, you got to know more about Angin and found that he shared some similarities to your likings.
"You're into baking as well? That's so cool! How did you get into it?"
"Hehe," Angin sheepishly smiled. "It happened years ago when I was on fifth grade. I tasted Yaya's cookies once and it was so terrible I nearly chocked to death. I didn't eat any pastries for a while, especially from hers, because I couldn't stand that taste again. But I was also curious how she could make that, so I tried to make my own cookies but with a different recipe. And you know what? My first home-made cookies were nothing like I expected. It was pure heaven! Ever since then, I started to like baking."
Was it really that bad? I've never tried it so... you thought.
Angin continued, "Whenever I do that, I usually share them with everybody. If you want, I could bring some snacks for you tomorrow, maybe chocolate chip cookies? I still have some ingredients at home so I don't have to buy any for now."
Your eyes lit up. "Really? That'd be great! Oh, how about we exchange instead? Let's offer each other our creations."
Angin put his index and thumb fingers under his chin. He thought about your reply for a few seconds before he answered, "That's a good idea, actually! Maybe we should even bake together sometime."
Your conversations lasted long until Angin mentioned that the day was beginning to get dark when he looked at the orange-pink sky being cloaked a purple one. Since the school was closing any time soon, you and the boy waved goodbyes to each others and parted ways.
Angin still had a large grin on his face when walking home from school. At the middle of the open gate he saw a familiar looking person and immediately recognized him from behind. "Tanah!" he called out, to which the eldest brother turned to see who called him.
The younger male was cheerfully skipping towards him. Normally, Tanah wouldn't be surprised that his brother was showing his merry behavior, but there was a strange look on Angin's face that made the other individual wonder about his brother. "I've been looking for you. What's up with that smile? And why is there a bandage on your forehead? Did something happen?"
Angin nodded his head, "You wouldn't believe what just happened to me today... "
~♡~
This took WAY longer than I thought and yes, I know the story has a slow progress.
Pasensya na po ;w;